


Like Ash in the Ocean Breeze

by greenshi



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Alistair deserved better 2020, Angst, Character Death Fix, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22912975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenshi/pseuds/greenshi
Summary: They say dead men tell no tales. Fortunately, this one's not dead yet.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Like Ash in the Ocean Breeze

It’s another early morning at the Gold Gardens. The rooms are beginning to empty out as the dim light of the sun leaks through the old wood and shines off the dusty bottles lining the back wall. It’s quiet, or at least quiet for Gold Garden standards. The band has begun to tune and practice for the evening, and a few warm breakfasts are being served to the early risers. A server brings a plate to Garthy, who hasn’t slept a wink. It seems to surprise them.

“Ah, well, thank you dear.” they say as the server walks away. They look back at the bed next to them, frowning. The young man laying in it had just woken up, and he seemed incredibly confused. 

“Wh...Where am I?” he asked weakly. “Why am I...I was at the Crow’s Keep…”

“That’s where they found you, yes.” Gathy said, pulling the side table closer to the bed. “I can’t say I have all the details, but it seems like you had gotten yourself into quite a fight. I’m surprised you’re still alive to be totally honest.”

The boy tried to lift himself up on his elbows, but a jolt of pain sent him back down onto the bed. 

“Don’t you move too much.” they scorned. “You’re still rather weak, after all. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened here?” 

“I...Where’s Fabian? He’s alright, right?” he asked, a look of panic washing over his face.

“Fabian? He and his party left town a few days ago.”

The boy looked surprised at that. 

“He...left? But that doesn’t make any sense, he was gonna help us defeat James Whitclaw. Why...Why would he just leave?” he said, moreso to himself than to Gathy. 

“He did defeat Captain James, over at the Ruction. You weren’t conscious for it, of course, but afterwards they all left in quite a hurry. One of them was kidnapped, see, so they had Miss Augefort teleport them down to Fallinel.” 

The boy looked away, furrowing his eyebrows. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to speak but unable to get the words out. Seeing this, Gathy handed over the plate. 

“Well, no need to dwell on it for now. Eat up, you look like you could use a good meal.”

In an instant, the boy’s eyes lit up at the full breakfast in front of him. He dug in, shoveling food into his mouth like it would disappear if he didn’t. Gathy was concerned that he might choke, considering it didn’t even look like the food was being chewed. 

“...Alistair, right?” Gathy asked. 

Alistair nodded between frantic bites. Garthy looked over Alistair, thinking about something. “That’s right, I knew I recognized you from somewhere. You don’t come to the Gold Gardens that often, do you?”

“Oh, no. Can’t afford it.” A few seconds after saying that, realization hit Alistair and his face fell. “Oh Gods, I can’t afford all this. A room and a meal here? That’s-”

“This is on the house.” Garthy interrupted. “Please, I’m not so cruel as to charge a dying man. Until you’re healed, consider this place your home.”

Alistair gave Garthy a wide eyed stare, so much so that they could almost swear to see literal stars in his eyes. 

“...Thank you so much, Mx O’Brien!” Alistair shouted, flinging himself into a hug with Garthy. “That’s the nicest thing that’s ever been done for me!”

“Uh.” Garthy exclaimed, a bit surprised by the sudden hug. “Really, it’s no problem. You don’t have to…”

Alistair pulled away, and it was only then that Garthy could see the tears running down the young man’s face. He pushed the tears off of his cheeks with the bottom of his palm. 

“I-I can’t remember the last time I had a soft bed and a good meal, honest! I mean, we did have a feast at Crow’s Keep, but...something happened, right?” Alistair asked, siffling and stuttering between his words. 

“I...Yes, something did happen there. How much do you remember, Alistair?”

Alistair just shrugged, taking another bite of his breakfast.

“Not much. I know we were gonna go fight Captain James, me ‘n Fabian ‘n all the others in the Cult of Old Bill, but then…” 

Alistar hesitated, swallowing his food and face becoming more serious. He thought for a moment, trying to nail down what exactly happened that night.

“...Something about shitting in people’s mouths? And I remember a lot of people died, I think. And...Fabian…” he mumbled. When he started thinking about Fabian, his brow furrowed. “He...He was running away? No, that can’t be right, why would he run? He’s the son of Bill Seacaster, it’s impossible.”

Garthy frowned. They knew what happened from there. 

“He fled the battle. It was too much for him to handle. The kid barely made it out alive.”

Alistair looked up at Garthy.

“He...what? How do you know?”

“His friends found out he was gone, panicked, and made me help bring him back. When we found him, he was strung up in loose ropes, bruised and bleeding, mumbling something about Captain James and your little cult.” Garthy explained. Alistair listened, frozen in disbelief. 

“But, why...why would he just abandon us? He…”

In an instant, a flash of horror and realization passed through him as Alistair remembered more from that night.

“...They’re all dead. He left us all to die.”

Alistair grabbed the sides of his head, leaning forward with unfocused eyes. 

“Gods, Creaky’s dead. And so is Gilson Sr, and Saltdrown, and Filomena, and…”

“...I’ll tell you one piece of good news. There are a few survivors, other than yourself. Old Young Benjamin is fine, along with Chungledown Bim and a couple others. No clue where they scattered off to, but they’re around here somewhere.” Garthy added. Alistair nodded, looking a bit more relieved, though still rather distant. 

“Good, that’s good. I’ll go check up on them, once I recover. Then we can...figure something out.” he muttered, laying back down. He stared up at the roof, lip curled and tears threatening to fall again. He closed his eyes and took a breath.

“Gods, I can’t imagine how disappointed the Captain must be. We’ll have to find a way to up our numbers pretty soon.”

“Worry about that later. For now, get some rest.” Garthy suggested, standing up. “I have to go for a bit to take care of some business. Shout if you need anything, alright?”

“Yeah, alright.”

Garthy began to walk away, sparing one last look at Alistair. The young man stared at the ceiling for a moment before rolling over on his side, facing the wall. Garthy couldn’t help it, they felt bad for the kid. With a sigh of resignation, they left the room, hoping that Alistair’s luck had not run out just yet.


End file.
